Oscillating vane internal combustion engine



May 14, 1968 3,382,849

OSCILLATING VANE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE B, J. CHAUDE 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed Sept. 27, 1966 y 1968 B. J. CHAUDE 3,382,849

OSCILLATING VANE INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE Filed Sept. 27, 1966 2Sheets-Sheet 2 United States Patent 3,382,849 OSCILLATING VANE INTERNALCOMBUSTION ENGINE Bernard J. Chaud, 27 Rue du General Delestraint,

Paris, France Filed Sept. 27, 1966, Ser. No. 582,418 Claims priority,application France, Sept. 29, 1965,

33,084, Patent 1,466,336 Claims. (Cl. 123-48) The present inventionrelates to a construction of an internal combustion engine of the kindin which the continuous circular motion obtained results from thetransformation of an alternating motion which, instead of beingrectilinear, is advantageously itself circular. It is more particularlydirected to a new construction of an engine of this kind, remarkable byits simplicity, low weight, robustness, and in that the travel of theforces concerned is very small as compared with the known constructionsof this kind, separating in particular the driving portion from theportion ensuring the movement conversion.

The internal combustion engine according to the invention, comprising acasing, a member having an alternating angular motion mounted in saidcasing about an axis of oscillation forming the centre of the saidmotion, a crank-shaft having its axis parallel to that of the saidoscillation axis, a coupling by a motion-converter crank between thecrank-shaft and the said member, the latter comprising a central portionshaped like a drum in the space between at least three'angul-arly-spaced vanes, while the casing forms walls co-operat-ingradially with the arcs described by the extremities of the vanes andwith the central drum-shaped portion of the said alternating-motionmember and also later-ally with this latter so as to form therewith anumber of working chambers greater by one unit than the number of thesaid vanes, is characterized in that the casing is constituted radiallyby .a cover containing, in addition to the said member, the crank-shaftand the crank-rod directly mounted between this latter and the saidmember, while it is constituted laterally by two end-plates mountedtightly on each side of the said cover and serving to supportsimultaneously the oscillation shaft of the said alternating motionmember and the crank-shaft.

The advantage of a construction of this kind are numerous andconsiderable and will be given in detail below with the description ofone form of construction of an engine according to the invention, shownby way of example in the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view in cross-section of the engine transversely to thecrank-shaft;

FIG. 2 is a view in cross-section of this engine taken along the lineII-11 of FIG. "-1, the crank-rod system being shown in a differentposition so as to make this figure more illustrative.

In the drawings, the crank-shaft is indicated by 1 as a whole, its shaft2 forming the driving shaft and its crank-pin 3 being coupled throughthe intermediary of a crank-rod 4 and a corresponding coupling shaft '5with a member 6 compelled to oscillate round a shaft 7 rigidly fixed toa casing in which the said member moves. This latter comprises a centralportion 8 shaped like a drum in the space between three vanes 9, 10 and11, angularly spaced apart so as to form four working chambers with thecasing, as will be described below.

This casing comprises a cover 12 of cylindrical shape to correspond withthe arcs described by the extremities of the vanes 9, 10 and 11, andwhich comprises the crank-shaft. Two end-plates 13, 14, mounted andfixed laterally on the cover 12, and two internal walls 15, 16,

3,38Zfi49 Patented May 14, 1968 co-operating radially with the centralportion 8 of the member 6 serve to define, with this latter inside thecover, four working chambers A, B, C and D, the volume of which varieswith the circular alternating movement which is carried out by themember 6.

In more detail, the parallel side faces of the cover 12 form twocontinuous joint planes, which enable it to be clamped between the twoend-plates 13, 14 which, with the cover, constitute simultaneously thewalls of the working chamber and those of the engine oil casing in thezone of operation of the crank-shaft, the walls 15, 16 being in thiscase constructed in the form of elements added and fixed between theend-plates 13, 14. This assembly of the cover 12, the end-plates 13, 14and the internal walls 15, 16 is effected by means of bolts transverseto the end plates, not referenced but shown in section in FIG. 1.

The internal fluid-tightness of the chambers A, B, C, D, with the parts12, 13, 14, 15 and 16, can be ensured by means of any suitablearrangement of segments, comprising in this case various sets ofsegments 18, 19 and 20.

The distribution of the gases in an engine of this kind can be effectedby conventional methods, for example by means of valves controlled bycams, following current practice. However, the preferred method ofdistribution according to the invention, .due to the fact that itsspecial construction is such that the section of the working chambers islimited by straight lines, consists of making use of spigot-typedistributor valves, driven in rotation at one-quarter of the speed ofthe crank-shaft.

Each of these distributor valves comprises a cylindrical spigot 21rotating in the direction indicated by an arrow and provided with twosymmetrical recesses 21a and 21b, which both serve successively as thearmis'sion conduit, the wall of the compression chamber and the exhaustconduit, by their co-operation with three ports 22, 23 and 24, the firstof which communicate-s with an admission conduit 25, the second with theworking chamber corresponding to thi distributor, and the third with anexhaust conduit 26.

In fact, at each cycle, the rotation of the distributor brings forexample one of the said recess s facing the admission conduit 25 and theworking chamber, and then at the end of the admission, facing theworking chamber alone, then at the end of expansion, facing the workingchamber and the exhaust conduit 26, which is then closed at the end ofthe exhaust period by the passage in front of the working chamber of thecylindrical portion of the distributor, in which the recess opposite tothat which has just carried out the distribution of one cycle, beginsanother by putting in its turn the Working chamber into communicationwith the admission conduit 25.

Thus, in FiG. l, in which each of the distributors occupies a positioncorresponding to the time of the working chamber which it supplies, themember 6 being in its neutral position, the distributor of the chamber Ais in the combustion position, that of the chamber D is in the end ofexpansion-bcginning of exhaust position, that of the chamber C is in theend of exhaust'beginning of admission position, and that of the chamberD in the position end of admission.

It will be observed that in the phase corresponding to the chamber C,the spigot is fully adapted to the shape of the vane 10, so that thewhole of the burnt gases 8 evacuated, the residual space being nil, andthe admission will then take place into an empty cylinder, whichconstitutes an obvious advantage. It is also seen that the recess of thespigot which has just served as a combustion chambet and then as anexhaust conduit, has available the time of a complete cycle for itscooling, while the other recess carries out a similar function, thiscooling being furthermore efficiently completed by the passage of thecool gases at the beginning of each cycle.

The drive of these distributors may be effected by any device, forexample a train of gears, a chain or a notched belt. An equipment ofpinions is shown in this case, comprising a bevel gear with conicalpinions 2'7, 28, the first mounted on the crank-shaft 2 and the secondfixed on a driving shaft 29 common to two distributors. This shaftcarries a worm-screw 3!) which is in engagement with a toothed wheel 31arranged on an extension of each of the spigots 21 of the correspondingdistributors.

This distribution is external to one of the end-plates, and can beprotected by a lateral casing 32, While the opposite extremity of thecrank-shaft 2 can be provided with a fly-wheel such as 33. The ignitionor injection device may be of any desired type and the sparking plug orinjector can be caused Without difiiculty to deliver into eachcombustion chamber such as defined at A.

it will first be observed that in the engines according to theinvention, a single crank-rod and therefore a single crank-pin replacesthe four crank-rods and the four crankpins of a conventional engine withfour cylinders in line. However, in the engines according to theinvention, the vanes forming the equivalent of the four pistons of theconventional engine referred to above are fixed together, so that on ythe resultant of the forces With which they are concerned is applied tothe crank-rod system. This is a considerable advantage as compared withconventional engines.

It is in fact known that in all modern engines in which the inertiaforces are preponderant with respect to the forces due to the gases. itis at the top dead centre corresponding to the end of the exhaust periodthat the crankrod system is under the greatest stress, because at thatinstant no force due to the gases is available to counterbaance theinertia force due to the movement of the piston, whereas at thefollowing top dead centre in the same cylinder, the load on thecrank-rod system is reduced by all the pressure produced by thecombustion. It results from this that in the engines according to theinvention, the single crank-rod can be substantially lighter than wouldbe each of the four crank-rods which it replaces, all other things beingequal, since it is not subjected at any instant, because of the combinedrigidity of the vanes forming pistons, to a force of such magnitude.

Genera ly speaking, therefore, the forces withstood by the componentparts of the engines according to the invention are less than thosewithstood by the parts of conventional engines. Furthermore, these partsare reduced both in number and in size, and are much better arranged toresist these forces.

it is in fact the end-plates 13 and 14 which limit laterally thecombustion chambers and the casing which carry the bearings of thecrank-shaft 1 and of the oscillation aft 7 of the a ternating motionmember, and also carry the bearings of the rotary spigot valvedistributors which may be employed. Arranged symmetrically on each sideof the plane of the crank-rod system, these end-plates are also arrangedin the actual plane of the forces which they withstand. The structurewhich results from this arrangement is particularly simple, light androbust, and the travel of the forces in it is reduced to a minimum.

The kinematics particular to the engines according to the inventionwhich permit this simp ification of structure have further advantages.As has been seen, they may be described as the conversion to acontinuous circular motion, not of an alternating rectilinear motion,but of an alternating motion which is already circular. Thereby, thelateral reaction created on the walls of the Working chambers in theconstruction with pistons having a straightline movement is eliminated,since the member with an alternating motion is in this case compelled torotate about its axis of osci lation. This constitutes an importantcause of the improvement in mechanical efficiency.

The elimination of the straight-line movement of the pistons has howevera much more important consequence. It is known that in conventionalengines, this alternating straight-line movement generates inertiaforces which are all the more troublesome since, having values veryditiercut in the vicinity of the top and bottom dead centres, they arefar from counterbalancing each other, and they result in so-called sccotry inertia forces which gives rise to considerable reac as on the frameof engines in line. This is obviously not the case with enginesaccording to the invention, in which it is easy to balance about theiraxes, at the same time the crankshaft 1 and the oscillating member 6,together with the parts of the crank-rod 4 associated with each of them.It is easy to see that when this condition is obtained, there exists noalternating inertia force but only inertia couples which are easier tobalance and which furthermore only result in modulation of the drivingtorque.

A further advantageous property of the kinematics of the enginesaccording to the invention is the possibility which they afi ord ofequalizing the value of the angular acceleration at the top and bottomdead centres. In fact, the crank radius r of the tank-shaft 1, thelength d of the crank-rod and the distance R between the centres of 5and 7 consitute the elements of a so-called "three-bar arrangement inwhich, by modification of the length of its fixed base E, it is possibleto modify substantially the value of the accelerations of the crankpivot 5 at each of its dead centres. It is therefore simple to give thebase E a length such that the angular accelerations are equal at eachdead centre, which has a particular advantage in the engines accordingto the invention, which can be dimensioned in such manner that at thepreferential utilization speed, the inertia forces exactly cancel thecombustion forces, pro vided of course that they are equal at each deadcentre.

it will however be noted that this particular feature can only beemployed at the cost of abandoning the equidistance of the dead centresand therefore of the combustions, which necessitates an alteration ofthe ignition or injection device. In fact, equi-distance of the deadcentres is only obtained if the geometric axis of the crankshaft islocated on the extension of the chord c of the arc described by thecrank-rod pivot 5, and in this case the values of the acceleration arein the vicinity of those of a conventional engine, while theequalization of the angular acceleration at the dead centres will beobtained in this case by placing the geometric axis of the crank-shaftbeyond the said chord with respect to the shaft 7, such as is the casein the example of PEG. 1.

An important point will also be noted, that the particular structure ofthe engines according to the invention makes it possible and easy toconstruct engines with multiple working chambers, for example with 8, 12or 16 chambers, by simply coupling together identical elements side byside, utilizing the same parts as the elementary engine, apart from thecrank-shaft which can be provided in a sngle piece comprising as manyelbows as there are elementary engines fixed together and from thedistributors which may be mounted together or extended so as to serve asmany working chambers as may be desiredv There is no difficulty inconstructing in this manner engines comprising up to 24 working chambersor cylinders having remarkable compactness, and one of the greatadvantages of the invention is to permit the manufacture of engines ofvery varied outputs, for example in a range of power from I to 6, withidentical elements.

It will be observed that the engines according to the invention willalways be fluid-tight, since they do not comprise any interrupted planeof joint. Their machining is particularly easy since it only involvesthe finishing of flat or cylindrical portions and consists essentiallyof boring and drilling parallel to each other and perpendicular to thefaces of the parts through which they pass. For this reason, while theiroverall size and their weight are about one-third of those ofconventional engines,

their production cost will be still lower than this proortion.

What I claim is:

1. An internal combustion engine comprising a casing, a member having analternating angular motion mounted in said casing about an oscillationaxis forming the centre of the said motion, a crank-shaft having itsaxis parallel to that of said oscillation axis, a coupling by a motionconverter crank between the crank-shaft and the said member, the lattercomprising a central drumshaped portion in the space of at least threeangularlyspaced vanes, while the casing forms walls co-operatingradially With the arcs described by the extremities of the vanes andwith the central drum-shaped portion of the said alternating motionmember, and laterally with said member in such manner as to formtherewith a number of working chambers greater by one unit than that ofthe said vanes, characterized in that the casing is constituted radiallyby a cover containing, in addition to said member, the crank-shaft andthe crank-rod directly mounted between this latter and the said member,and is constituted laterally by two end-plates mounted tightly on eachside of the said cover and serving simultaneously as a support for theoscillation shaft of said alternating-motion memher and for the shaft ofthe crank-shaft.

2. An engine in accordance with claim 1, in which the distance betweencentres of the crank-shaft and the oscillation shaft of the said memberis dimensioned with re spect to the length of the crank-rod, to thecrank radius of the crank-shaft and to the distance between centres ofsaid oscillation shaft and the coupling shaft of the crankrod with thesaid member, in such manner that the axis of the crank-shaft is locatedon the extension of the chord described by the said crank-rod couplingshaft with the said member, this condition being necessary andsufficient to ensure the equidistance of the dead centres of the saidmember.

3. An engine in accordance with claim 1, in which the axis of thecrank-shaft is located, with respect to the extension of the chord ofthe arc described by the coupling shaft of the crank-rod with the saidmember, on the side of the said chord opposite to the oscillation axisof the said member and distant from said chord by an amount such thatthe values of the acceleration of the said coupling shaft and thereforeof the angular acceleration of the said member are substantially equalat each dead centre of the said member.

4. An engine in accordance with claim 1, in which the mass and themoment of inertia of the said alternatingmotion member are such that theinertia couple which results in the vicinity of each dead centre tendsto cancel at that moment the forces due to the gases in the workingchambers so as to relieve the load on the crank-rod system as much aspossible under the most frequently utilized conditions of speed andload.

5. An engine in accordance with claim 1, in which the distribution ofthe gases to each Working chamber is effected by a rotary spigot valvedistributor driven by the crank-shaft at one-quarter of its speed ofrotation, each of these spigots being provided with two symmetricalrecesses and rotating in a housing provided with three ports, the firstcommunicating with an admission pipe, the second with the workingchamber, the third with an exhaust pipe, so that each of the saidrecesses is located, during the course of one cycle, first opposite theadmission pipe and the working chamber, thus ensuring the admission,then opposite the working chamber alone, thus serving as a wall of thecompression chamber, and then the working chamber and the exhaust pipe,thus ensuring the exhaust, the parts of the said spigot comprisedbetween the said recesses being dimensioned in such manner as to closethe port communicating with the working chamber and then to cooperate atthe moment of the end of exhaust with a surface of the correspondingvane, so that the residual capacity of the working chamber is nil andthe evacuation of the burnt gases is complete.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,283,375 10/1918 Vlk 123-182,511,576 6/1950 Gehres 230-159 FOREIGN PATENTS 808,753 7/1936 France.

RALPH D. BLAKESLEE, Primary Examiner.

1. AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE COMPRISING A CASING, A MEMBER HAVING ANALTERNATING ANGULAR MOTION MOUNTED IN SAID CASING ABOUT AN OSCILLATIONAXIS FORMING THE CENTRE OF THE SAID MOTION, A CRANK-SHAFT HAVING ITSAXIS PARALLEL TO THAT OF SAID OSCILLATION AXIS, A COUPLING BY A MOTIONCONVERTER CRANK BETWEEN THE CRANK-SHAFT AND THE SAID MEMBER, THE LATTERCOMPRISING A CENTRAL DRUMSHAPED PORTION IN THE SPACE OF AT LEAST THREEANGULARLYSPACED VANES, WHILE THE CASING FORMS WALLS CO-OPERATINGRADIALLY WITH THE ARCS DESCRIBED BY THE EXTREMITIES OF THE VANES ANDWITH THE CENTRAL DRUM-SHAPED PORTION OF THE SAID ALTERNATING MOTIONMEMBER, AND LATERALLY WITH SAID